He left for ambition. She stayed for legacy. Now they’re stuck together with one café, one storm, and a heat that never cooled.

Talulah
I came back to Starlight Cay to save my grandmother’s café—not to fall back into bed with the man who shattered my heart. But Raleigh Draycott isn’t just scouting restaurant space. He’s in my kitchen. In my business. And when the storm hits, he’s in my house too. Now the man who left is everywhere, stirring up old memories, new sparks, and the kind of touch-it-and-it-burns chemistry I swore I’d buried.

Raleigh
Talulah Everhart was never supposed to be part of the pitch. I came here to build the next flagship for my culinary brand: clean lines, investor-friendly, legacy-free. But one glimpse of her café—and her—and I knew we’d been wrong. Now I’m risking everything I’ve built for the one thing I never got right. Her.

Standalone

This is an adult 18+ story that contains language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.

Title:  Sea, Salt, and Him
Series:  Standalone title
Author:  Harper Reynolds
Published:  August 1, 2025
My Rating:  4 stars

Sea, Salt, and Him is a standalone title, featuring Talulah’s and Raleigh’s unexpected second chance romance… during a hurricane!

It’s said that you can never go home again, but Raleigh is going to try.  Oh, not forever, but while he scouts out the location for his next restaurant.  This chef/businessman is stepping back to the place he once left with only dreams in his head, and a special girl left behind.  He isn’t trying to rekindle anything, but… memories of the woman he left won’t go away.  Especially now that it’s her grandmother’s cafe he wants to transform, and Talulah, who tempts him with her sass, her stubbornness, and that something that never really let go of his heart.

The last man that Talulah ever expected to run into here on this small island off the North Carolina coast was Raleigh.  The man who broke her heart by leaving so many years ago… now he’s back with an eye on her beloved grandmother’s cafe.  No.  Not gonna happen.  Not giving up the cafe, nor giving her heart one more time to a man who always leaves.

Sea, Salt, and Him by Harper Reynolds is an engaging, second-chance romance with a bit of sizzle and a lot of stubbornness.  Through some flashbacks, we’ll get an idea of what Talulah and Raleigh were once like, when they were younger, in love, and had a future ahead of them.  Today, although the spark is still there between them, Talulah is afraid to trust him again, and when he leaves temporarily, he says. Well, it’s their past all over again to her mind, at least.  The raging hurricane may have trapped them together, but they each have to make the choice to trust and risk their hearts again.  I enjoyed their story; it’s well-written, emotional, a bit spicy, and realistic.  Trust after being hurt never comes easily, but sometimes it’s worth the risk.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the author or the author’s team via Booksprout, and I sincerely thank them for their trust. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

This title is available at Amazon (affiliate link)